Two charged in hunting accident Shooting of two marks 1st turkey season mishap

LYMAN – Two hunters on Monday became the first shooting victims in the 16 years since Maine began having a wild turkey season.

Richard LaFlamme was hit in the back of the neck and head when another hunter was fooled by LaFlamme’s turkey call and opened fire, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The hunter who fired the shot and a companion were arrested for failing to report the incident or render aid, Latti said.

LaFlamme, 29, was transferred from a Biddeford hospital to the Maine Medical Center in Portland before being released after doctors removed more than 40 pellets from his body, Latti said.

LaFlamme’s hunting partner, 37-year-old Stephan Pelletier of Biddeford was hit once in the back, and was treated as well.

LaFlamme and Pelletier were trying to call in birds to a decoy they set in a field when the shooting occurred at 6:30 a.m., Latti said.

Larry Inniss, 63, of Arundel and Edgar White, 70, of Kennebunkport saw the decoy while driving by in a pickup truck and turned around, thinking the decoy was the real thing, Latti said.

The pair got out of the truck and began moving toward the source of the turkey call, which was closer than the turkey decoy. Inniss fired his 12-gauge shotgun from a distance of 80 yards, Latti said.

LaFlamme called out that he had been shot and Pelletier saw a hunter with a shotgun, Latti said. Pelletier leaned down to check out his friend, then looked up again and saw that the hunter had disappeared, he said.

The two suspects were stopped when they emerged from the woods some time later to return to their truck. Innis and White made their initial appearance Tuesday in District Court on a charge of failing to report the shooting. Bail for each was set at $500 cash.